Revised - Attachment 2 - Performance Work Statement.docx

SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION

W91ZLK-22-R-0014

Attachment 2 – Performance Work Statement

Performance Work Statement: Transcription Services

1.0 Introduction.

The U.S. Army Public Health Center (APHC) is located at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD. It is a World-class provider of public health services across Department of the Army and the Department of Defense.

1.1 Mission

The APHC promotes health and prevents disease, injury, and disability of Soldiers and military retirees, their Families, and Department of the Army civilian employees; and assures effective execution of full spectrum veterinary service for Army and Department of Defense Veterinary missions.

1.2 Background

Past transcription services to the APHC have been used to support the analysis data collected during evaluation and other studies conducted as part of the Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance and Health Promotion and Wellness missions at the APHC.

1.3 Scope

APHC requires general transcription service support of audio recordings collected during interviews and focus groups collected as part of the APHC evaluation mission (e.g. program implementation and outcomes, factors that shape the health, wellness, and quality of Life of Soldiers and other members of the Total Army Family). The only technical aspects are military jargon/acronyms and the transcript structure (See Section 3.3 and Attachment 1). The transcription is not medical in nature. Transcription services are currently only required in English. This is based on APHC’s current mission, other languages or topics may be added based on changes in APHC’s mission.

2.0 General Requirements.

2.1 Place of Performance. The Contractor shall perform transcription services at the designated off site facility.

2.2 Periods of Performance.

2.3 Time of Performance. The Contractor shall perform work at their discretion while still meeting the terms of the PWS.

2.4 Government Furnished Information/Equipment. Government will not furnish any equipment. Work is to be performed at the designated contractor facility. The government will provide:

a. All required reference materials, software, documentation, regulations and policies.

b. Appropriate passes and clearances for the duration of this contract to ensure access to the government facilities.

c. Technical Points of Contact (POCs) for each government entity as required to complete the transcriptions.

2.5 Meetings and Reviews. The Contractor shall be available to attend meetings and reviews with the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) if performance issues require this action, to be held at mutually acceptable dates and times.

2.6 Data Handling. The Contractor shall delete all data and ensure that any back-up copies have been destroyed in accordance with NSA data destruction methods.

2.7 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) - The HIPAA Rules require that Business Associates (BAs) not use or disclose PHI other than as permitted or required by a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) or as required by law. The BA shall use appropriate safeguards, and comply with the DoD HIPAA Rules with respect to electronic PHI, to prevent use or disclosure of PHI other than as provided for by the Agreement.

3.0 DELIVERABLES

3.1 The audio files will be delivered to the Contractor in single or multiple batches, based on projects, using a secure network file sharing system identified by the APHC. The frequency and batch size will vary over the course of the period of performance based upon the mission needs of the APHC. Based upon historical and anticipated needs, there may be months where no transcription support is needed. The Contractor will receive an advance email notification of an upcoming request (i.e. anticipated timeframe for when audio files will be available for upload and estimated number of audio minutes to be uploaded) and an e-mail notification when the files are available for download. Any transcripts completed before the deadline (See Deliverables Table 3.6) should be sent back to APHC via the file sharing system as soon as they are complete. Transcription support for a minimum total of 1500 and maximum total of 4,500 of audio minutes will be requested over the course of the period of performance.

3.2 All provided transcripts will be completed and returned to the APHC via a secure network file sharing system (See Deliverables Table 3.6). Any transcripts completed before the deadline should be uploaded to APHC as soon as they are complete.

3.3 General formatting requirements are as follows. Transcripts (Deliverable 3) will:

a. Be completed in Microsoft Word

b. Be typed directly into a Word template, if provided

c. Use Arial12 point font

d. Have one-inch top, bottom, right, and left margins

e. Have all text beginning at the left-hand margin

f. Distinguish between Facilitator speech and Participant speech (As outlined in Attachment 1)

g. Include time stamping only for passages marked “inaudible,” “overlapping talk,” or as a questionable text (see Attachment 1)

h. Be de-identified with names of individuals dropped from the transcript and indicated with a blank underline

i. Follow all specific formatting guidelines outlined in the attached “Formatting Guidelines” (Attachment 1)

3.4 Transcripts should be labeled with the same name as the source audio file.

3.5 The Contractor will review each transcript thoroughly for quality assurance purposes before delivering to APHC to reduce possible errors and inaudible sections. Any transcript with more than 20 errors and/or inaudible sections will be returned to the transcription agency through the COR for correction without additional costs. Transcripts that do not comply with formatting guidelines will be returned for correction without additional cost. All corrected transcripts must be returned to the APHC COR within 3 business days. Exceptions to this must be agreed upon with the APHC COR and the specific Portfolio Manager and are only granted for obvious issues with recording quality or difficult speech patterns.

3.6 Deliverables:

The contractor shall complete and submit deliverables in accordance with the “Deliverables Table” below. Unless specified in the PWS within the description of the deliverable, all deliverables will be made to the COR electronically

DELIVERABLES TABLE

NTE 10 Bus Days - Batches that contain a total of 1,501 – 3,000 audio minutes NTE 15 Bus Days - Batches that contain 3,001 – 4,500 audio minutes

4.0 QUALITY CONTROL PLAN (See Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) The Contractor shall prepare and adhere to a Quality Control Plan (QCP) that complies with the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) that the Government has provided to ensure proper service contract oversight is performed.

5.0 QUALITY ASSURANCE (See Attached)

6.0 REQUIREMENTS:

6.1 TECHNICAL REQUIREMENT: The contractor, as an independent contractor and not as an agent of the government, shall provide sufficient personnel possessing the skills, knowledge, training, and experience to perform the required tasks. All training, education and certification will be accomplished outside of this contract.

6.1.1 The Contractor shall provide proof of a minimum of three (3) years’ experience repairing and recoating floors and walls with chemical resistant epoxy.

6.2 PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENT:

6.2.1 Contractor shall have high speed Internet, a .com email address, and the capability to receive files by downloading from a secure network.

6.2.2 Contractor shall be able to play WMA, WAV and MP3 Files.

6.2.3 The APHC will provide a list of the electronic files, a transcription template, and a list of common acronyms relating to the project.

6.2.4 Audio files will be sent to the Contractor in batches using a secure network file sharing system specified by the APHC. Within a batch of files, the average recording length per file is anticipated to be 45-60 minutes, with an average of 2-3 speakers per file including a facilitator and interview/focus group participant(s).

6.2.5 Batches of transcripts that contain a total of 1,500 audio minutes or less shall be transcribed and the report sent to the Government within 5 business days.

6.2.6 Batches that contain a total of 1,501 – 3,000 audio minutes shall be transcribed and the report sent to the Government within 10 business days.

6.2.7 Batches that contain 3,001 – 4,500 audio minutes shall be transcribed and the report sent to the Government within 15 business days.

6.2.8 Transcriptions will be returned by a secure network file sharing site, specified by the APHC, as they are completed.

7.0 Management Reports and Plans:

7.1 Monthly Financial Tracking Report (Deliverable 1). The contractor shall provide a spreadsheet with detail of real time expenditure levels of every contract line item number (CLIN). The initial report is due 45 days after contract award and monthly thereafter.

7.2 Monthly Report (Deliverable 2). The contractor shall provide a monthly report detailing all work, including the subcontractor’s work, and where there is critical or significant data related to the provided support. The report shall include a detailed list of all hours worked and workload accomplished, to include but not limited to, a list of equipment serviced and writing assignments in support of all tasks.

Attachment 1:

Interview/Focus Group Transcription Protocol

Attachment 1 Interview/Focus Group Transcription Protocol

TEXT FORMATTING

General Instructions The transcriber shall use the following formatting in Microsoft Word when transcribing all individual interviews and focus groups:

· completed in Microsoft Word

· Be typed directly into a Word template, if provided

· Use Arial12 point font

· Have one-inch top, bottom, right, and left margins

· Have all text beginning at the left-hand margin

Transcript File Naming Convention Transcript files shall be saved using the naming convention of the corresponding audio file, followed by an underscore and the word transcript.

Example:

“Audio file name_transcript”

Transcript Header Transcripts shall include the following header information at the top of the document:

Example:

Audio file name: “Audio file name” Total minutes: XXX minutes

Beginning of Audio Type BEGINNING OF AUDIO in bold uppercase letters to indicate the start of the audio recording that was transcribed. Skip two lines prior to the start of the transcription text for the audio recording.

Example:

BEGINNING OF AUDIO

F: How would you describe your overall work environment?

P: In general, I think that it is pretty good. There are a few things that could change or be improved.

Speaker Labels Each time the speaker changes throughout the interview a speaker label shall be used to indicate the change.

Indicate that the Interviewer started speaking with “F:” in bold. Then tab over and begin typing question or comment text.

Indicate that the Participant started speaking with “P:” in bold. Then tab over and begin typing response or question text.

End of Interview Audio At the end of the audio, the transcriber shall type END OF INTERVIEW AUDIO in bold uppercase letters on the last line of the transcript. A double space shall precede this text.

Example:

F: Is there anything else that you would like to add?

P: Nope, I think that about covers it.

F: Well, thanks for taking the time to talk with me today. I really appreciate it.

END OF INTERVIEW AUDIO

CONTENT

Audio are to be transcribed verbatim to include filler words such as “um” and “uh”, false starts and repeated dialogue.

· If interviewers or interviewees mispronounce words, these words shall be transcribed as the individual said them.

· If an incorrect or unexpected pronunciation results in difficulties with comprehension of the text, sic shall be typed in square brackets.

Example:

P: I thought that was pretty pacific [sic], but they disagreed.

NON-VERBAL SOUNDS

Non-verbal sounds that add context to dialogue such as laughter shall be typed in parentheses such as (short sharp laugh). Do not indicate unobtrusive sounds that do not add to context or interrupt dialogue such as a cough or the clicking of a pen.

Example:

P: I mean I said it was fine, but it clearly was a disaster.

TONE INDICATORS

Tone indicators, such as if a speaker appears frustrated or is using a joking tone, should be indicated by putting a note in brackets before the word/phrase.

Example:

P: [joking tone] I mean I said it was fine, but it clearly was a disaster.

DE-IDENTIFICATINO OF INDIVIDUALS

Names of individuals should not be transcribed and replaced with a blank underline in the transcription text.

Example:

P: Then _________ indicated that the process had changed.

TIME STAMPING

Include time stamping for any instances where audio is identified as “inaudible,” “overlapping speech/cross-talk,” or as “questionable text”.

INAUDIBLE INFORMATION

· The transcriber shall identify portions of the audio file that are inaudible or difficult to decipher. If a relatively small segment of the file (a word or short sentence) is partially unintelligible, the transcriber shall type the phrase “inaudible segment.” This information shall appear in square brackets and be time stamped.

Example:

The process of identifying missing words in a recorded interview of poor quality is [inaudible segment].

· If an extended segment (10 seconds or longer) of the audio file is inaudible or unintelligible, the transcriber shall record [extended inaudible segment] in square brackets followed by a colon and the amount of audio that could not be transcribed in seconds.

Example:

[Extended inaudible segment: 60 seconds of interview missing]

OVERLAPPING SPEECH

If individuals are speaking at the same time (i.e., overlapping speech) and it is not possible to distinguish what each person is saying, the transcriber shall place the phrase “cross-talk” in square brackets immediately after the last identifiable speaker’s text and pick up with the next audible speaker. The beginning of the overlapping speech should also be time stamped.

Example:

P: There are occasions when the interviewer and participant speak at the same time, often making it difficult to determine who said what. [cross-talk]. This results in loss of some information.

PAUSES

· If an individual pauses mid-sentence but completes their thought, use an em dash " ─ “, with a space before and after to indicate the pause.

Example:

P: Sometimes, a participant briefly loses their train of thought or needs a few moments to think through ─ the rest of their response.

· If an individual trails off and doesn’t complete their thought, the transcriber shall use three ellipses.

Example:

P: Sometimes, a participant doesn’t complete their thought or sentence because…

· If a substantial speech delay occurs (10 or more seconds) between complete thoughts the transcriber shall indicate (long pause) in parentheses.

Example:

P: Sometimes the individual may require additional time to construct a response. (Long pause) Other times, he or she is waiting for additional instructions or probes.

QUESTIONABLE TEXT

If the transcriber is unsure of the accuracy of their interpretation of a statement made by a speaker, this statement shall be time stamped and placed inside parentheses and a question mark is placed in front of the open parenthesis and behind the close parenthesis.

Example:

P: I wanted to switch to ?(Kibuli Hospital)? if they have a job available for me because I think the conditions would be better.

REVIEWING FOR ACCURACY

The Contractor shall prepare and adhere to a Quality Control Plan (QCP) that complies with the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) that the Government has provided to ensure proper service contract oversight is performed.

· The Contractor will review each transcript thoroughly for quality assurance purposes before delivery to reduce possible errors and inaudible sections.

· Any transcript with more than 20 transcription errors or instances where audio is mislabeled as inaudible (where recording quality or difficult speech patterns are not present) will be returned to the transcriptionist by the COR for correction without additional costs. Transcripts that do not comply with formatting guidelines or do not use the provided template will be returned for correction without additional cost. All corrected transcripts must be returned to the APHC COR within three business days. Exceptions to this must be agreed upon with the COR and are only granted for obvious issues with recording quality or difficult speech patterns

SAVING TRANSCRIPTS

The transcriber shall save each transcript as a word document using the naming convention outlined above.